Senate Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Repeal 1099 Provision

With the beginning of the new session in the Senate, legislation was introduced by Sens. Mike Johanns, R-NE, and Joe Manchin, D-WV, to repeal the 1099 provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which requires businesses to file a 1099 form for all goods and services of $600 or more. The business community was vocal in its opposition to this provision since it would be a tremendous regulatory burden, and members of both parties have supported its repeal.

AGA supports repeal of the 1099 provision since this will negatively impact physician practices, and we will continue to monitor progress on this legislation. Efforts to repeal the provision fell short in the last Congress, but both parties and President Obama have stated that they would like to move the repeal legislation as one of its first orders of business. Signaling the priority that the House Republican leadership has given this issue, they have re-numbered the bill H.R. 4, which means the bill could be taken up in the next few weeks. (The first five numbers are reserved for the majority party’s priorities for bill numbering.)

The repeal of health-care reform continues to consume both chambers as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, has stated that he will continue to push for a vote on the repeal of PPACA that passed the House last week and will continue to offer it as an amendment to legislation before the Senate. The Democrats have countered that they will offer amendments of their own to preserve some of the more popular provisions in PPACA and force Republicans to vote against things like eliminating pre-existing conditions, allowing parents to keep their kids on their insurance until the age of 26, preventive benefits, and eliminating the “donut hole” for seniors in the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Continue to read the AGA Washington Insider and AGA eDigest for more updates on health-care reform and other key policy issues.